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‘Just let go and you could become a good Buddhist’
Bhikkhu Abhaya, back in his motherland, stresses the importance of purification of mind through meditation
By D. C. Ranatunga
You are caught in a traffic jam. You get angry. But does it help to ease the traffic jam? Does it make the traffic start moving? It only makes you feel agitated. Anger builds up within you. So what do you do?

"Let go," is the simple advice given by Bhikkhu Abhaya, a Sri Lankan monk now living in Perth, Western Australia. "Is getting angry the right thing to do in the midst of a traffic jam? As my teacher Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso says, use that time to meditate rather than get angry. You don't have to spread loving kindness, yet purify your mind not to get angry. Just let go.

"While the traffic jam is still there, by getting angry you are fuming inside. You make your mind feel miserable. You create suffering for yourself, but start blaming others. This is where wisdom comes," Bhikkhu Abhaya says.

A mathematics graduate from the Colombo University, Bhikkhu Abhaya after serving as a teacher for a few years when he was a layman, took off to Britain where he found a job in a big engineering firm. In 1982, he moved to Australia where for nearly two decades, he worked for one of the biggest aluminium firms. He started practising meditation and was soon very much into the Dhamma. He got ordained in 2000 and obtained 'upasampada' the following year.

Back in Sri Lanka for the first time after getting ordained under the renowned master of meditation, Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso, he has been busy teaching the latter's style of meditation through sermons, mainly to young audiences.

"If you can let go, you become a good Buddhist. You are not going to change the world by getting angry. Let the others do what they like. That's not your concern. Your concern is purifying yourself. That's why the Buddha said, 'Look after yourself'. Then the whole society will become good. You become a good example," he says.

Stressing the need for 'panna' (wisdom) to have concentration, Bhikkhu Abhaya says the mind has to be settled first. He explains two stages in meditation. The first is the present moment of awareness and the second, silent awareness of the present moment. "See what is happening in your mind. You will realise that it's all likes and dislikes. There are strong attachments. These have to be made weaker. Throughout the day we go on thinking. Thinking means either you like or you dislike."

He says that merely sitting for meditation for half an hour at the end of the day does not help. "Develop 'sati' (awareness) throughout the day. Whatever you do, do with awareness. Most of the time, we do things habitually. Learn to think of only what you are doing and don't do so many things at once. Give 100 per cent attention to what you are doing, the mind will then get disciplined," he advises.

Returning to Sri Lanka after three years, he feels sad about the state of the country. He doesn't see a strong leader who could pull the country out of the present crisis. As for the interest in the Dhamma, he finds it most encouraging to see a lot of young people who are very keen to learn and spread the Dhamma.

"I came here to translate a book by Ajahn Brahmavamso into Sinhala but started getting invitations for Dhamma talks. I have delivered about sixty talks and am pleased with the response. Without any advertising, they turned up in their numbers," he said.

These talks, which are mainly on how to meditate, often end up with a short meditation session. "Most of these talks were given in village areas. A young man took the initiative in passing the word around and getting the crowd. Participants were mainly unmarried young men in their twenties. This is an encouraging sign," he says.

What does he teach them?
"In my talks I tell them that Buddhism is nothing but your own day-to-day life. One can practise meditation throughout the day. I teach them how to meditate but I don't ask them to do it - it's up to them. If they want to, they can, otherwise they can keep quiet. I don't agree when someone says he has no time to meditate. Meditation means developing your mind. So can anyone say that he has no time to develop his mind," he asks.

Bhikkhu Abhaya is different from those who merely recite 'gathas' and say they know their Dhamma. "It does not mean one should not know 'gathas', but they must first know their meanings. It's the same with those who say they know all about 'nibbana'. Possibly they have read books on 'nibbana' but as the Buddha said, you have to experience it to know what 'nibbana' is. It's like sugar. You may know how sugar is produced but until you taste it, you don't know what sugar means. You must practise and see what the Buddha has preached and then see for yourself whether you are on the right path. This you cannot do by merely reading books."

Bhikkhu Abhaya is one of twenty monks in a 500-acre forest monastery in Perth. The others are Australians who had listened to Ajahn Brahmavamso's lectures delivered every Friday evening at the Nollamara City Centre, and decided to become Buddhists and later got ordained. Around 300 attend these weekly gatherings and most of them join weekend retreats and a nine-day retreat to meditate. At the forest monastery, where Ajahn Brahmavamso himself lives, the monks do not follow a rigid way of life. They are free to practise the Dhamma once the teacher gives them the guidelines.

I asked Bhikkhu Abhaya, who leaves this week, what his message to those interested in the Dhamma would be. "Let go and enjoy real happiness and peace," he said.

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